One Los Angeles city councilman, now out of office, admitted last week that he accepted envelopes of cash from a businessman in casino bathrooms. [...]
Yet another council member allegedly sought a $500,000 cash bribe from a real estate developer, according to a plea deal struck between federal investigators and a political fundraiser who admitted collecting much of the money in a paper bag.
— Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times reporters David Zahniser and Emily Alpert Reyes shed light on the growing number of municipal corruption scandals in Los Angeles. A probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigations has revealed the degree to which real estate development plays a role in feeding “pay-to-play”... View full entry
Bay Area health officials issued a sweeping new order on Tuesday banning a range of commercial and residential construction that had previously been exempt from stay-at-home mandates. The move could swell the record number of Californians seeking unemployment by putting some construction workers out of jobs. — San Francisco Chronicle
After issuing a shelter-in-place order for six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area on March 16, health officials now increased the measure by also restricting construction activity on market-rate housing projects which was exempt until now. Related on Archinect: Not all construction projects... View full entry
The end of the semester is approaching and with many students preparing for their final reviews, the reality of presenting virtually has set in. I had the pleasure to attend my first digital mid-review this past week at Woodbury University. It was a fun and engaging experience and the projects... View full entry
Across the country, some state mandates have shut down all nonessential business and request that employees work remotely wherever possible, and shelter-in-place orders have kept people from leaving their homes aside from vital errands.
At the same time, even in some of the cities and states with the most stringent shutdowns, construction continues.
— Construction Dive
A number of US States have ordered all non-essential construction projects to halt in an effort to flatten the curve among workers. But of course, "essential" is a fluent term and interpretations vary from state to state. Construction Dive took a look at a few ongoing megaprojects and how they... View full entry
The sudden transition to online learning and teaching has presented students, faculty, and staff at many institutions of higher learning around the world with enormous challenges — technological, organizational but also on a human and inter-human level. Archinect asked for responses from its... View full entry
In an effort to rapidly boost effective medical response to the devastating COVID-19 outbreak, an international network of architects, engineers, doctors, military experts, and NGOs have developed an open-source solution to convert shipping containers into plug-in Intensive-Care Units. A first... View full entry
The United States Army Corps of Engineers this week issued Southwest Valley Constructors a contract modification worth $524 million for design-build services on a barrier wall replacement project in Tucson, Arizona, at the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The change brings Southwest's contract amount for the project to almost $1.2 billion when combined with the May 2019 initial contract's award of $646 million for the same project. — Construction Dive
While construction of all non-essential projects in several US states has been ordered to stop to contain the spread of COVID-19, planning of fortification elements along the US-Mexican border near Tucson, Arizona is going ahead with full steam, as Construction Dive reports. View full entry
With April 1 fast approaching, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the L.A. City Council on Friday expanded efforts to prevent residential evictions during the coronavirus pandemic....
Through an executive order, Newsom announced a two-month delay on residential evictions for those who can’t pay their rent as a result of the virus — the first statewide action he has taken on evictions during the outbreak.
— Los Angeles Times
According to the Los Angeles Times, the City Council voted to prevent landlords from evicting tenants affected by the coronavirus. The order covers those who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus and those who need to take care of their children due to school closures... View full entry
The United States Senate and House of Representatives have both passed the CARES Act, $2 trillion economic aid package crafted in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the largest government stimulus in the history of the United States. The historic effort, which was signed into law by... View full entry
The built environment often shapes the spread of disease. Many early cases of COVID-19, the 2019 novel coronavirus, centered on a seafood market in Wuhan City, China. Airports, hospitals and other gathering points can easily become sites of virus transmission. But as the medical community grapples... View full entry
Salone del Mobile Milan announced today that the 2020 edition of the anticipated event has been postponed to April 13-18, 2021. The Board of the Salone del Mobile made the decision in light of the coronavirus health crisis that continues to significantly impact countries across the globe. Back in... View full entry
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that construction projects across the state must stop work in order to comply with efforts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Carving out exceptions for hospital construction, transit infrastructure projects, utility repairs... View full entry
Dyson, the U.K. company known for its vacuums and air purifiers have designed a built a new ventilator in 10 days in collaboration with The Technology Partnership (TTP), reports Fast Company. The new machine has been dubbed "CoVent." It is a portable bed-mounted ventilator that can... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the creation of a special task force that aims to educate public officials, healthcare facilities, and other architects on how to adapt existing buildings for temporary hospital use. According to a statement published by the group this... View full entry
There's no hiding the emotional toll this unprecedented pandemic has had on the entire globe. As a part of our efforts to learn about the impacts of this situation, Archinect reached out to its international community to get a sense of how things have been going. We wanted to hear how our... View full entry
